


At All Costs

by Calamity_Hero_Awakens



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom, Marble Hornets
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Birthday Party, Domestic Fluff, Family Bonding, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grumpy Parents, Grumpy Teenager, Light Angst, Medication, Panic, Post-Canon, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:54:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23186578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calamity_Hero_Awakens/pseuds/Calamity_Hero_Awakens
Summary: Toby finally has the family he needs.Tim’s just doing his best.Jay helps out however he can.And Jessica brings the cake.
Relationships: implied Jay Merrick/Timothy "Tim" Wright
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	1. -Notes-

I wrote all of these a year ago and they've just sat in my files, doing absolutely nothing.

These are just a bunch of scenes with Tim, Jay, and Toby living together and what that brings. I'd planned to introduce Toby at the end of Entry #12050104001305 but decided that wasn't the direction I wanted to take the story in.

This could eventually equal up to a story but it would be separate from my Marble Hornets one and I don't want to start another story while I've already got two going. I'm doing good just to continue updating those.

Let me know what you think about these and based on that, I might eventually make it into a full length story.

Also, the chapters jump around and might seem kind of clipped at the end and might not have a real definitive ending because they were just short thoughts for a story that I jotted down. There’s not much of a particular order they go in so they’re just in the order that I wrote them.

(God, I can't believe it's been a year since I wrote this.)


	2. [Ay]

“Good morning,” Tim said as Toby walked in. His hair was a mess, sticking up in every direction, and he hadn’t yet rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Hm,” Toby grunted back in acknowledgement as he took a seat at the dining room table. There wasn’t much space for a table so it had been jammed into the corner and there were only two chairs, but that was fine for them. There was only two of them anyway.

“Meds,” Toby quietly said as he hunched forward over the table, rubbing his face. Tim already knew he would say that, so he had them set out on the table.

“In front of you, Toby.” Toby glanced up to find an assortment of pills in front of him which he scooped up and swallowed dry.

“What’s for breakfast?” he quietly asked once he noticed Tim was still in the kitchen.

“Food,” Tim vaguely replied.

“Great,” Toby replied. Tim could tell he was getting irritated and calming him down was always a challenge, one he wasn’t sure he was up to this morning.

“What are you gonna do today?” Tim asked, trying to avoid the blowup he was sure would occur.

“Does it matter?” Toby snapped. “You’ll be at work like always and I’ll be stuck here. Just, leave me alone.” Though Toby was eighteen - the age gap being only five years - he still acted like a child sometimes. Tim knew he couldn’t blame him for that though. A lot of it had to do with his mental health. On top of having Tourettes, he also had ADHD, OCD,   
and depression.

The combination was a lot to deal with and both of them struggled daily but somehow, they managed.

“I could stay home if you’d like. I’ve got vacation days saved up,” Tim offered, trying to keep the situation from escalating to explosive.

“Forget it!” Toby shouted, standing up quickly and knocking the chair over. He quickly retreated back to his room before Tim got the chance to yell at him. If Tim was completely honest with himself, he wasn’t exactly sure why he had allowed Toby to stay, especially for this amount of time. When he had found him three months ago, he had only planned to help him become stable, resume taking his meds, and possibly get a job. Then he would be gone. The problem was, the two got along. Most of the time. They were very similar in some aspects, but also complete opposites in others. Then there was also the fact that in the short amount of time they had spent together, the two had bonded. Tim had grown accustomed to another living person being under the same roof as him, and Toby, well, he was simply happy to have someone there for him.


	3. [Be]

“Where are you going?” Tim asked as Toby grabbed his hoodie from off the couch.

“Out,” he simply replied as he pulled on the clothing and headed for the back door, obviously not in the mood to have a conversation.

“That’s a little too vague,” Tim said as he stepped in front of the door, blocking Toby’s path. Toby let out an annoyed growl before crossing his arms.

“I’m going to the park.”

“Why?” Tim asked. Toby didn’t leave the house often and when he did, most of the time it was because Tim was dragging him out to get some fresh air. Deciding to just leave on his own was a very rare occurrence. Sighing, Toby answered the question.

“I want to take some nature photos. Is that alright, sir?” Nature photos? What was this kid really up to?

“Alright,” Tim finally said, moving from in front of the door. “But I want to see some photos when you get back, ‘kay?”

“Fine, whatever,” Toby said as he pulled the door shut behind him.

 _Perfect_ , Tim thought to himself. Only five minutes after Toby had left did Jay pull up into the driveway.

“Help me set up,” Tim said as soon as he answered the door. Surprisingly, Jay had brought Jessica. In her hands, she held a rectangular box with a clear lid, displaying the cake inside. The frosting was light blue and had “Happy Birthday Toby!” written in black icing. Along the edges were intricate designs in black and white icing. “That’s impressive. Where’d you get it?” Tim asked.

Beaming, Jessica replied, “I made it.” Wow, that really was impressive. Tim didn’t know she was that talented.

“I don’t know when he’ll be back,” Tim admitted as Jessica put the cake in the fridge. “But he rarely leaves so I don’t think he’ll be gone long.”

“Alright, well, let’s go ahead and get things set up,” Jay said as he grabbed a roll of blue crepe paper.

🎂 🎂 🎂

As dumb as his excuse had sounded, it actually wasn’t an excuse at all. Toby had simply wanted to take photos. Since he always had himself locked up in the house, having photos of nearby locations that he had taken would be a great way to pass the time. He had already toured the entire city via Google Maps and Street View. The only places he hadn’t seen were the places not directly beside the road. But in all honesty, Toby hated being outside. He felt that he was too exposed out in the open. That’s why he kept the trip short and headed back home as soon as the sun began to lower among the trees.

Sighing, he closed out of his gallery and slid his phone back into his pocket as he turned the knob of the back door. The room was completely dark which wasn’t too unusual. Tim was probably taking a nap like he so often did.

As he closed the door and turned on the light switch beside it, Jay, Tim, and a girl he had met only once - was her name Jessy? - all shouted “Surprise!”


	4. [Cee]

“Toby, did you take your meds yet?” Jay asked at the breakfast table. Since Jay had moved in with Tim and Toby, the two had traded off looking after Toby and making sure he took care of himself. That usually meant asking if he took his medicine several times a day. That wasn’t the only reason Jay had moved in though. Having his own place had become too much of a burden and Tim had offered him a place to stay for as long as he needed. From the looks of it, Jay had no intention of leaving any time soon. That was alright with Tim and Toby though. Having another person in the house to help diffuse the tension was always a good thing.

“I’ll get to it,” Toby replied as he poked his omelet with his fork, disinterest clear in his expression.

“Well hurry up and take them then finish your breakfast. We’ve got somewhere to go today,” Tim said as he entered the dining room, handing two pill bottles to Jay who took out the proper dosage and handed them to Toby.

“Where are we going?” Toby asked as he took the pills.

“You’ll see,” Tim said as he brought his food into the dining room and sat down. An extra chair had been added to the table though there really wasn’t enough room for it. The table had been slid down and the chair placed at the opposite end, across from Toby. After the three had finished their breakfast, Toby disappeared into his room to get dressed before reappearing ten minutes later, his blue hoodie in his hand.

“So where exactly are we going?”

“You’ll see,” Tim repeated as he headed for the door, Jay following. Once the three were in the car and on their way to wherever it was they were going to, Jay turned on the radio and the three sat in quiet, listening to the music.

Except for the music, it was actually quite quiet until Jay leaned over to Tim and asked, “Are you sure this is a good idea? I thought this was the opposite of what you wanted?” Tim looked in the rearview mirror to see Toby was staring out the window, disinterest etched onto his face. Little did he know, Toby was listening to every word.

“I just want to see if anything happens. If not, then I think we’ve beat this thing. Forever.”

“And what if something does happen, Tim? Then what are we supposed to do? I don’t want this to start all over. And neither do you. Neither of us could handle that. And now that Toby’s here? We’ve got to protect him too, not just ourselves. We can’t be recklessly running into danger like before. If not for each other, then for him. We’re all he has now. Then there’s the fact that Alex is still out there. Did you even think of that?” Jay’s voice was low but still loud enough for Toby to hear from the back seat. If he was honest with himself, he had no idea what they were going to do, but it couldn’t be good. Not with the way that Jay was worrying so persistently about their safety. What was there to protect him from anyway? He could take care of himself. He had up to this point. Had Tim not come along, he could have continued to do so.


	5. [Dee]

Jay was right. Just like always, he was right. They should have never come here. When Toby had first been found by Tim, he had been burned, cut up, and smelled of smoke. That should have been the first clue that there was something different about him, but Tim ignored the signs and assumed - hoped - that he had just been in a freak accident, something so bizarre, there was no way that it or anything similar could happen again. He should have known better. Since everything had calmed down and returned to normal, Tim and Jay had assumed that the storm had passed, that everything could get back to the way it was. Tim was so sure that it was over and that Toby’s accident had simply been just that, that he had decided to take him to the woods.

They would simply walk around for awhile, nothing would happen, Tim and Jay would be convinced it was all over, and then they would go home.

If only it had happened that way.

As Tim stopped to catch his breath, he looked up through the trees to see that the sun was directly above him. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was only noon. An hour had passed since Toby disappeared and not a single sign of him could be found.

Once Jay caught up to him, he placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder as he panted, “Maybe… Maybe he left. He might… Have gotten lost and… Found his way… To the car.”

“You know that’s not what happened,” Tim angrily said. He wasn’t mad at Jay, only himself. Deep down he had known that this wasn’t a good idea. As soon as Toby had disappeared, his thoughts immediately headed for the worst. If there was one thing that Tim was certain of, it was that Toby hadn’t simply wandered off. He couldn’t even take him to the store without having him practically cling to him as if he were a lifeline.


	6. [Ee]

“What happened to Tim?” Toby asked Jay at the breakfast table. Tim had left early so he could get to work. He had a new project to work on and needed all the time he could get. The question itself caught Jay off guard.

“What do you mean?” he asked, confused as to what Toby was referring to.

“I mean, I can look at him and he seems to be a regular, happy guy. But I can also tell that there’s something else there. A deeper feeling. If I had to guess, I’d say something really bad happened to him. And honestly, it scares me sometimes. He tries to pretend things are always okay but they’re not and I can tell.” Toby’s response surprised Jay. He really could read people, that was for sure. How he had gathered all of that from Tim without ever knowing of his past, Jay was unsure.

“Well… He’s been through some hard stuff. We both have. The difference is that I didn’t lose my best friend. We each lost a bit of our sanity. I ended up having to care for Tim for a little while. He wouldn’t eat, take his medicine, bathe. He’d simply lost the will for life. And it only got worse when he lost Brian. I think that, at this point, he’s just trying to focus on getting better now.”

“Who was Brian?” Toby asked to which Jay smiled. Not a happy smile, but one of remembering.

“He was Tim’s best friend. They’d been friends since the beginning of college. When he died though… So did Tim. A little every day,” Jay replied before sitting in the quiet of his thoughts. Toby sat in silence as well, waiting for Jay to say something. After a few moments, he finally did.

“Don’t tell Tim I told you this. I think it would make him angry. And probably undo all the progress he’s made.”

Toby nodded. “I won’t tell him.”


	7. [Ef]

“You were gone a long time. Where’d you go?” Tim curiously asked as Toby walked through the back door. It was only six o’clock but he had left around noon so he really had been gone a while.

“Just, to the park,” Toby replied as he pulled off his jacket and hung it on the back of a chair at the table. “I actually met someone today,” he said, pulling open the fridge and peering in, searching for something.

“Ooo, what kind of someone?” Jay said, quirking his eyebrows in a suggestive way. Toby rolled his eyes.

“Just a guy. He seemed nice enough. Said his name was Alex.” Toby pulled a can of coke out of the fridge before shutting it and turning to go to his room.

“Wait a second,” Jay said, an undertone of panic to his voice. “What was his name?”

“Alex. He seemed nice though,” Toby replied, continuing to head to his room. Why would they be so interested in a stranger he met? It’s not like he told him all of his personal information. He’d only spoken to him for maybe ten minutes anyway and the guy seemed nice enough.

“Wait,” Tim said in a stern tone. Toby had heard it before but this time, it seemed different somehow. Turning back to face the two at the dining room table, Toby let out an inaudible sigh of exasperation.

“Come here,” Tim said, pushing out the extra chair with his foot. _Am I seriously about to get lectured for trying to make a friend? I thought that’s what they wanted_ , Toby thought as he took a seat beside Tim, glancing at Jay across from him before focusing on Tim.

“What did he look like?” Tim asked, his voice serious.

“Uhm, I don’t know. I didn’t stare at him the whole time. But… He was kinda tall. Had dark hair and eyes.”

“Did he have glasses?” Jay asked from across the table.

“Yeah, actually he did. And he had a weird last name. ‘Crab’-something, I think.”

“Kralie?” Tim lowly suggested. Judging by his tone, if he had to guess, Toby would say it was the one thing Tim was dreading.

“Yeah, do you know him?” Toby asked though it was already abundantly clear that they did. Jay turned to look at Tim with a nervous expression as Tim rested his forehead against his hands which were propped up on the table. When he finally looked up, Toby could practically see the anger in his eyes.

“You are not to go back to that park, understand?”

“But what’s so bad-”

“Do you understand?” Tim’s voice rose to practically a yell. In a fit of stubbornness, Toby crossed his arms.

“No. Tell me why right now or I’m going back,” he said defiantly. Glancing across the table, he saw Jay looked even more anxious than before. His eyes were trained on Tim’s face, waiting for something to happen. Waiting for him to blow up.

Surprisingly, Tim lowered his voice as he said, “Listen to me and listen good, Rogers. You are not to go back to that park or any other. Ever. And if you even think about sneaking out, I will confine you to this house.”

And then, Toby said something he shouldn’t have. He knew it as soon as it came out of his mouth.

“Jay will let me out.”

Across the table, Jay jolted back slightly, surprised by Toby’s words spoken with such confidence. In some part of his mind, he really was confident that Jay would bend the rules a little. Though he was sometimes stubborn, he was also like the easygoing parent. When the stern one (Tim) said he wasn’t allowed to do something, the easygoing one (Jay) would bend the rules a little and allow it.

But Jay was quick to deny the statement.

“Toby, as much as I’d like to be lenient, this is something I can’t reconsider. Alex is… dangerous, to put it lightly. The fact that he simply had a normal conversation with you leads me to believe that he has no idea who you are. You need to stay away from him. If that means locking you up here… Well… I guess that’s what we’ll do.” Jay looked away from Toby as he apologetically mumbled, “I’m sorry but you have to obey Tim.” Obey. That was an interesting choice of words that had not gone unnoticed by Toby.


	8. [Gee]

“We’re going out,” Tim said as Jay grabbed his jacket. Toby was seated in the front room, watching the television. “We’ll be back in about an hour, maybe two. Got it?”

“Yeah,” Toby said, eyes trained on the screen.

“Hey,” Tim said as he stepped into the room. “Look at me.” Toby rolled his eyes before looking up at Tim standing in the doorway. “You’re to stay here, got it?”

“Yeah, I got it. ‘You’re on lockdown. Keep yourself in this house. Understand?’” Toby said in a mocking tone, causing Tim to narrow his eyes.

“I mean it. You better stay here,” Tim warned. Toby rolled his eyes again and nodded his head a little before focusing back on the screen. Letting out a sigh, Tim turned to leave, calling behind him, “See you in a little bit.”

“Uh-huh,” Toby said though he doubted either of the men had heard it. As the two left, locking the door behind them, Toby turned off the TV and wandered from room to room, unsure what to do. He was tired of watching the television but he also didn’t know what else he wanted to do. Wandering to the back of the house and into his room, Toby flopped down on his bed and pulled out his laptop from under the bed. Bored out of his mind, he scrolled through his social media until he saw something that caught his attention. Scrolling back up, he clicked on a picture of a circle with an X through it. It seemed somehow familiar…

After searching every corner of his mind, Toby remembered where he’d seen it. About a week ago, he had seen a piece of paper sticking out from under Tim’s bed when he walked by his room. Making sure the coast was clear, he quickly snuck in and pulled it out. Nothing else was on the paper, only the symbol, but it seemed somehow menacing.

“What are you doing?” Tim had growled from the doorway. Toby whipped around to face Tim, unsure what to say. Before he could find the words, the older man snatched the paper away from him and shredded it. “Stay out of here. Understand?” Toby had nodded and quickly left the room but the event had left him more confused than ever.

Now with time to spare - as if that was any different from usual - Toby searched for more information on the symbol. It took almost half an hour but he finally found something of use. Link after link after link had led him to a YouTube channel full of videos. There were nearly a hundred. None were professional looking; they all seemed to equal up to an amateur documentary at best.


	9. [Aych]

“Can I borrow your jacket?” Toby asked. He had forgotten to grab his on the way out and now that they were in the car on the way home, the windows down as Tim lit another cigarette, the cold wind rushing into the car was intense. Toby had his arms wrapped around himself, trying to preserve as much body heat as possible. He hadn’t wanted to ask for the jacket - in all honesty, he would have asked Jay first, had he had one with him - but as he grew colder, he realized that he would have to ask for the jacket or for the window to go up. Neither were likely to be granted but the jacket seemed slightly more likely.

“Cold?” Tim asked, though it was obvious as he glanced at Toby’s shivering figure in the rearview mirror. Toby nodded as he glanced back before looking away. Carefully maneuvering himself, Tim managed to drive the car and hold onto his cigarette as he pulled the jacket off of himself and passed it back to Toby who received it with a quiet mumble of thanks.

As soon as it was slipped onto his small frame, Toby was immediately wrapped in its warmth. The faded yellow fabric was much warmer than he had thought it would be, to his pleasure. Having such a small frame, the thick fabric surrounded Toby and looked to be at least two sizes too big. Having something to keep him warm, especially with Tim’s body heat still preserved in it, Toby wasn’t about to complain.

Shifting himself to the middle of the backseat, Toby curled up in the seat, ignoring the seatbelt that was wrapped around his waist. As he let his eyes drift closed then back open in a sleepy gaze, his eyes focused and unfocused on the yellow material. He understood now why Tim wore it more than his other jackets. Not only was it warmer, it was probably the most comfortable thing Toby had ever had against his skin.

 _The inside has to be laced with some kind of magic_ , Toby sleepily thought.


	10. [Eye]

“Toby, wake up,” Jay whispered as he poked Toby’s side. The teenager groaned before rolling over and cracking an eye open. In the dark, he could just make out the shape of a person standing in front of him. “C’mon, get up,” Jay said, pulling back the blanket slowly.

“Why?” Toby groaned as he slowly sat up.

“Just get up,” Jay whispered as he went to grab something from Toby’s closet. As Toby swung his legs over the side of the bed, Jay tossed him a shirt and dropped a pair of shoes at his feet. The boy pulled on the clothing before following Jay quietly down the hall and towards the back door.

“What are we doing?” Toby asked quietly.

“Just follow me. And be quiet. I don’t want Tim to wake up.” Jay doing something without Tim knowing? Now that was strange. He told him almost everything that happened. As the two snuck outside, Toby quietly closed the door behind him, keeping a close eye on Jay. This was strange, even for him. Sure, Toby had seen him do some strange things, but this might just top the list. The two began walking down the street in the darkness, an occasional street lamp lighting the way so they weren’t lost in darkness.

“Jay, please tell me where we’re going,” Toby finally pleaded after they were a good distance from the house. Jay continued to ignore him as he trudged up a hill. At the top of the hill, the trees had disappeared. It was an odd piece of land, surrounded by trees and close to civilization yet just a little grassy area. At the top of the little hill, Jay sat down, waiting for Toby to do the same. Toby hesitated but finally sat beside him, crossing his legs. Jay tucked one leg up to rest his chin on and left the other one sticking out in a relaxed position. A long, silent moment passed between them before Jay finally began to speak.

“The moon looks pretty,” he simply said. Toby lifted his head to the sky to find a full moon, bright and beautiful. He nodded his head in agreement but said nothing more. He knew this wasn’t the reason Jay had woken him up in the middle of the night and brought him here. He could have looked out of his window if he wanted to see the moon. Another stretch of silence hung between them.

“No one is to blame,” Jay finally said quietly, “but I still feel responsible all the same.”

“Is this about Brian?” Toby gently asked.

Jay shook his head. “This is about everything. I feel like, no matter what I did or could have done, in the end, I let this happen. Everything that happened was my fault. I know it, Tim knows it, Jessica knows it, and Alex never let me forget it. Then there’s Brian.” Jay let out a sigh. “Brian didn’t deserve what happened to him. If I had just been there, if I had stopped it from happening… I would have taken the fall. He’d still be here. Tim wouldn’t be so…” Jay stopped. His expression turned from one of pent up anger and frustration to completely relaxed. His eyes drifted down to his hands which were balled up into fists in his lap. Toby finally lifted his head to stare at the moon that hung above them in the black expanse of the sky.

“What was Brian like?” Toby finally asked once he could tell that Jay had calmed down. At first, Jay remained silent. Toby assumed he was thinking and knew that pressing him was a terrible idea.


End file.
